Dear College Baseball Fans,

I apologize for the delay in my writing these past couple weeks, but it has been one of the busiest times in my life. In the past three weeks, we studied for final exams, played Louisville in a weekend series, took our final exams, flew out to Seton Hall for a series, and flew home for two days (with a game on the road versus Michigan), then left for Villanova.

After sweeping Villanova in a three-game series that clinched our Number 1 seed, my fellow seniors and I flew back to Notre Dame after our game on Saturday only to stay for 16 hours during which we had brunch with our families and graduated. We were very proud to continue a great tradition with Notre Dame baseball, as all 71 of the four-year players who have played for Coach Mainieri have graduated from Notre Dame.

We then left the graduation ceremony early so we could arrive at the South Bend airport in time to leave for Tampa, which is the site of the Big East Tournament.  I am not even talking and I am out of breath just thinking about that.  Nevertheless, I now am here in the Tampa area (actually Clearwater) as a Notre Dame alumnus ready to help my team win its fifth consecutive Big East title.

Finals week ended recently and I finished taking my last undergraduate exams. Every year, it is a huge relief to take my last exams knowing that I only have to play baseball and do not have to worry about any schoolwork. However, this year is very different for me because I am now an alumnus of Notre Dame.

Some of you may know that we had some losses recently and they came in that period right before and right after exams. Well, as it turns out, the team obviously was very focused on its academics this semester and especially during finals time as we posted the best team semester GPA (3.28) in Coach Mainieri's 12 years here. Of the 32 players on the team, 25 had a semester GPA of 3.0 or higher and the eight seniors nearly averaged a 3.5 for the semester and a 3.3 for our entire careers. When you combine that with all of our on-field success, we know that our coaches and families are very proud of what we have accomplished and we also are very proud of each other.

There is a very high academic standard that comes with being a Notre Dame baseball player and I am glad to have been a part of such excellence. Right now, I am under consideration for Academic All-America honors along with two of my fellow seniors (Tom Thornton and Matt Bransfield) and we would be honored to join the many great Notre Dame baseball players who have come before us and received the recognition of Academic All-American.

It is a weird feeling knowing that I will not be returning for another year of school and will not longer be playing for Notre Dame after this season ends. I was talking with my teammate and housemate Matt Bransfield and he was saying how senior year is similar to freshman year because it is a year of transition. It's funny because I find myself worrying just like I did my freshman year on what lies ahead.

However, now that finals are over, there is nothing to worry about but playing baseball. It's the best time of the year because it's like we're in the Major Leagues. Each day, we will wake up, eat, play baseball and go to sleep. Of course, we'll mix in some video games, movies, and if we're lucky a little fishing, but that's about all. Real tough life we live here, let me tell you.

As I mentioned before, I live in a house with four other seniors on the team and calling what we live in a house is generous. Our house has been rented to college students for years, so the condition in which we received it was not good to say the least. For five kids playing a full-time sport, we have been able to keep the house fairly clean, but for only one reason. At some point, one of us will crack and be unable to live with the mess for the time being. It has happened to all of us at one point or another, but it happens.

You can see it when it happens, too. One of us will just stare at the pizza box that has been sitting there for a week and he will snap. It is almost a game, to see if the person who has left the pizza box there will end up cleaning it up. Usually, it does not happen, so someone else will pick it up later.

Well, it's still a whirlwind schedule here but the postseason has arrived – we are hoping for great things to come for the team in the next few weeks and I will be sure to check in again soon.

This is Greg from South Bend (but currently in Clearwater) - go Irish!

Greg Lopez

(photo courtesy of Notre Dame Media Relations Office)